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October 13, 1999
Minge reflects ondecision to stayout of Senate raceFeels there are more opportunities in the HouseBy GUY PRIEL Journal Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- Congressman David Minge, DFL-Minn., will run for re-election in the 2nd Congressional District rather than pursue a run for the United States Senate. "I decided there are many opportunities available to me if I stay in the House," he said during a telephone conference on Tuesday. "I can be more active and can face more challenges." By staying in the House, Minge will be able to concentrate more on agriculture issues and budget matters as well as leadership opportunities. "I feel obligated to the 2nd District, because of their support and encouragement," he said. "I was also concerned because the race is a cluttered field with eight people running." Minge saw what happened during the 1995 political race when the party was unable to identify the candidate early in the race, creating a handicap by the time the election came around, because people couldn't determine the issues. "Because it is a large field, it would be necessary to raise extra money and that was another concern of mine," he said. "My work is too important and I felt that obtaining Senate financing was something I could not responsibly do at this time." On recent trips to Minnesota, Minge received many requests to remain in House. "It was not an easy decision to make, but it was the right one to make," he said. "It is important that we maintain a majority in the House." The Senate race, downgraded by too many candidates, is difficult for an incumbent House candidate and can, potentially, put a candidate's political career at risk, Minge said. * In other matters, Minge discussed the need for Congress to complete by the appropriations process by the Oct. 21 extension deadline. "The financing ran out by Sept. 30; so we are pushing to get things through within the three-week extension period," he said. "We don't expect a shutdown of federal operations at this time." Things were tight during the 1999 fiscal year, and some expenses were deferred to the 2000 budget because the budget ceilings were reached, Minge said. "The greatest difficulties being faced with this appropriations matter are education, housing and health care," he said. "Another problem is the peace issue. We are not able to bring closure to the peace process if our expenses are not taken care of first." The major battle right now with the appropriations bill is that both sides are pushing against the caps, because neither party wants to exceed the spending caps. "One way of avoiding budget caps is to control emergency spending, which is important in the event of a national disaster," Minge said. "That has been abused in the past and we need to exercise discipline." Other creative ideas have also developed during the appropriation discussions, such as a possible 13-month budget cycle for 2000, he said. "I am confident we can go ahead with this," Minge said. "We just need to do it forthrightly and plan things out. Caps help us avoid new programs that stress some of the less important things in the budget." If caps are not met, the Federal government must eventually borrow funds from the Social Security Trust Fund, so funding can be used to invest in government bonds on Wall Street, he said. "There is no way to prevent borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund, unless the Treasury borrows from another source to invest in something other than government securities," Minge said. "That will create a firewall between two parts of government." Agriculture spending is $8.5 billion more than what was in the budget. Although much of that amount was spent on disaster recovery, some of it spilled over into the regular budget, but still remained within the caps, Minge said. The Labor/Health/Human Services appropriations will break the caps, as well as the Anti-Trust Division appropriations, he said. The Agriculture Appropriations Bill has passed the House and is currently making its way through the Senate. Minge is confident that the bill will pass and despite some misgivings, is confident President Clinton will pass the bill. The Patient Protection Act has also passed. In regards to Minge's resolution to give national designation to New Ulm's Hermann Monument as a symbol of the contributions of German-Americans, he has been getting about 10 co-sponsors per week and is attempting to determine what level of support they will provide. "We get a lot of questions about the significance, how it affects other areas of the country and how much money New Ulm wants," he said. "I have to tell them New Ulm doesn't want any money, they just want recognition." The process is proceeding and he has developed a proposal for his colleagues to review that can answer any questions they might have about the resolution. Regarding his political opponents in the upcoming election, Minge does not know many of them personally, but has noticed that there seems to be more interest in the race from suburban areas than from rural Minnesota. He is familiar with Republican hopeful Mark Kennedy from Watertown and has met Independent candidate Ben Thompson of New Ulm.
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